Tough at the top
The old line was rolled out this week: "all political careers end in failure". Not much consolation, I suspect, to the cabinet ministers currently under fire. But it's a good rule of thumb that if politics is tough, then sporting politics is even tougher.
People at the would doubtless subscribe to that after the week they've just had. Whatever you think of what happened, managing all the characters in the game isn't easy; and everything the FA does is under an unremitting spotlight.
Which brings me to Jose Mourinho. (currently on our site) marks with the disclosure that he's not 100% happy - and there's something about the culture of this country that's at odds with the way he wants to be.
Quotes: "Why don't I go to press conferences? Because I have no pleasure to go... Maybe I have to be a different person in this country. Maybe this country - football-wise - is not adapted to my mentality and I will have to change.
So in the week of , is there anything in this?
In the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ we've been saying recently that we want to make our sports journalism even higher-quality --- and my own view is that asking the right questions of people in the game is a key part of that. Everyone should be accountable.
But is there something about the way the sports media currently operate that isn't healthy? Since our reporters were among those tracking Scolari across Portugal last week, is this too much pressure on individuals? Or does the reward they get mean the spotlight is inevitable? More questions than answers, but we'll be debating points like these as we plan our investment in ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sports News.
